El infinito en la palma de la mano /

Was eating the forbidden fruit a sin, or was it an act of curiosity? Nicaraguan-born poet, novelist, and activist Belli revisits the story of Adam and Eve and delivers a refreshing, intimate, and moving version of the events in Genesis. She describes lyrically the couple's magical innocence before eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In a more somber tone, the story chronicles their fears and doubts when they are expelled from paradise and explores their feelings when forced to discover the human condition: hunger and thirst, the pleasure of sex and the pain of childbirth, and the cruelty of having to kill in order to eat. Unlike the biblical story, which presents Eve as guilty for offering Adam the forbidden fruit (a fig in this story), Belli portrays her as a curious woman who believed Elokim wanted her to acquire the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam blames her, she defends herself. "I get enraged when you remind me that I ate the fruit every time you want me to obey you," Eve fires back, pointing out that the decision to eat the fig was his. Recently awarded the 2008 Biblioteca Breve Award, El infinito will captivate readers interested in magical realism. Recommended for all libraries and bookstores.-Carmen Cusido, Union City, NJ Coelho, Paulo.Coelho's (The Alchemist, 1988; The Witch of Portobello, 2007) ability to draw from Catholic and esoteric spiritual teachings and couch the syncretic result in fictional terms has made his works beloved spiritual staples for decades. Originally published in 1990, this novel purports to be the true story of 21-year-old Brida's spiritual quest. Her questions about life and the occult lead her to two teachers: a magician and a witch. They instruct her to keep the bridge open between the visible and the invisible, to identify her spiritual Gift, and to reunite with her Other Part (a by-product of the soul division that occurs during reincarnation). Alas, two teachers make for an excessively didactic novel and a rather dry story. Coelho includes a few appealing rituals (which he sternly warns the reader against using without appropriate guidance), some compelling precepts, a brief discussion of the spiritual dimension of sex (a special orgasm is required for Brida's spiritual initiation), and a regrettable abundance of underdeveloped and contradictory elements. This is one of Coelho's less inspired and more forgettable works, but his fans will likely request it. An optional purchase for bookstores and public libraries where spiritual themes are popular.-Carolyn Kost, Stevenson Sch. Lib., Pebble Beach, CA (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.